The House of Representatives approved on Tuesday four agreements signed by Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr with Germany, Korea, Japan, and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development worth $3.5bn.

The parliament approved the report submitted by a joint committee, formed of the committees of economic affairs, foreign relations, and planning and budget. This committee approved the agreement signed in Cairo on 29 May between the Egyptian and German governments concerning the 2014 financial cooperation worth ‎€65m or $70m.

Nasr said that the goal of this agreement is to develop the skills of young people in all sectors, and finance a number of important projects that serve citizens on the national level. This will be done through supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the field of new and renewable energy, energy efficiency, water irrigation and sanitation resources management, empowering women, developing ashwa’yat (informal housing), and improving public services.

The parliament approved the report of the joint committee based on presidential decree No. 408 for 2016 with regards to approving the agreement signed in Seoul on 3 March between the Egyptian and Korean government worth $3bn.

The agreement serves as a general framework for a future cooperation with the Korean Export and Import Bank to benefit from soft loans offered by the bank for developing countries, through the cooperation fund for economic development.

A larger joint parliamentary committee was formed of the committees for housing, utilities and reconstruction, economic affairs, planning and budget, defence and national security, based on the president’s decision to approve the financing agreement for the construction of five water desalination plants in southern Sinai. This agreement was signed between the Egyptian government and the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development in Cairo on 31 May and is worth KWD 29m or $100m.

Parliament approved another joint committee report, formed of the committees for tourism and civil aviation, economic affairs, foreign relations, and planning and budget. This was based on presidential decree No. 284 for 2016 with regards to approving mutual letters signed in Tokyo between Egypt and Japan.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) offered to finance the Egyptian government with ¥18.2bn (about $152m) to expand Borg El-Arab airport. This project aims to serve passengers on low-cost flights, and a new terminal will be constructed with an annual capacity of up to 4 million passengers.